Darling in the FranXX: Homebound
by Order of Alignment
Summary: By means unknown, Hiro, Zero Two, and the Klaxosaur Princess have been granted another chance at life. Join the trio of Klaxo Sapiens as they begin the journey not only to see the resurgence of a species, but to mend their broken promises.
1. Chapter 1

"We'll probably fade soon."

"Yeah."

The two now-Klaxo Sapiens were bathed in light, and both could feel their consciousness fading. They were at peace with that, though. They had done what they needed to.

The two nuzzled their horns against each other, waiting for the inevitable fade in consciousness.

"Hey, darling?"

"Yeah, Zero Two?"

"Who are all those people?"

Hiro looked at Zero Two's face, whose expression was one of confusion. He turned his head to face in the opposite direction to find a large crowd of humanoid beings in the void with them. In the front of the crowd, however, was a familiar face.

"I didn't think you would give up your lives so easily, Ningen." The Klaxosaur Princess walked (as well as one could in the void between life and death) towards the duo, stopping about an arms length from them. She glanced back at what now appeared to be hundreds of Klaxo Sapiens, then returned her gaze onto the heroes.

"How are you here? How are _we _here, for that matter?" Hiro questioned. He had fully expected to be dead, by this point, but now he was speaking with a dead princess.

"Darling has a point," Zero Two glared at the princess. They hadn't exactly left off on the best of departures. Being thrown out of her FranXX didn't really help.

"I am here," the princess stated, "because my soul was tied to both of yours. I _did _give up my life for you two. I'm glad you did not disappoint." The princess moved forward again, grabbed the two of them by the shoulders, and began pushing them towards a gate of light that had appeared in their peripheral vision. "Of course, we can't have you two die."

"Why not?" Zero two asked.

"Because you are our final hope." The voice was a new one, and the trio turned to find what appeared to be an elderly Klaxo Sapien approaching them. The man, whose facial features were being blocked by the heavenly light, appeared to grin at them. "We can't have our species die, after all."

The two lovers found that they had reached the gate of light, and before they could respond, found they were entangled by the princess' tail. The princess stared at them for a while, as if memorizing them. Then, finally, she sighed. "Live on, Ningen-" she nodded at Hiro- "Fa-sister." she gazed at Zero Two, who seemed surprised to be called sister.

"Wait-" she began, but before she finish, the princess flicked her tail towards the light, and flung them into the realm of the living. The two disappeared with a flash.

* * *

The princess did the mental equivalent of a sigh when she saw her fellow Klaxo Sapien turn to gaze at her.

"Sixty million years spent alone must have been horrible." the man spoke.

"Most of it was spent in hibernation." She really didn't want to talk about it. She had been reminded far to often of her own failures while watching those two have something she could never-

"I'm sorry we places that burden on you." The man's voice was filled with regret. "Allow us to give you one last apology."

"What-?"

In just a few moments, the congregation of her brethren had picked her up, and, despite her struggles, bega moving her to the gate of light.

"Wait! Let-me-go!" She snarled as the light began to blind her from her fellow Klaxo Sapiens.

The congregation seemed to speak as one. "Live on, Princess. You have always been our hope. As we fade into nothingness, you have a chance to revive our people, and protect Home."

The princess stopped struggling enough to see two familiar Sapiens in the crowd, and they gazed into her soul with their unseen eyes. The princess stretched out her hand, reaching for them like she had on that day sixty million years ago…

"You are our greatest hope. You always have been. Don't forget that."

...

She saw nothing but gold.

* * *

Zero Two woke up in the arms of her darling, who slumbered beside her. She stood and stretched and took in her surroundings. They were in..._Strelieza?_

Hiro shifted in his sleep. "Zero...Two…" he murmured. He reached out sleepely with arms, as if hoping to find her.

She wasted no time returning into his embrace. The two returned to their peaceful sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiro woke up in the embrace of the person he cared about most in the world.

_Am I dead? _He thought. _If this is the afterlife, was all that a dream?_

"_No." _a voice in his mind responded. "_You are alive, Ningen."_

"Princess..?" Hiro craned his head to find the Klaxosaur Princess staring at him. She looked no different from someone who had come back from death's door, besides the fact that she now wore and article of clothing, similar to the cloth that Zero Two wore when he first gazed upon her, except it was white in colour. "Uh...nice dress."

"_It's bothers me that I have to wear human garbs,"_

"Then why are you?" the blue Klaxo Sapien inquired.

"_Whatever saved us from fading into nothingness rearranged my body." _the princess explained. "_Do you recall when I told you how my-__**our **__species lost the ability to procreate?_"

"Um… I'm not sure I feel comfortable talking about this…" Hiro stammered. He got the gist of what she was saying.

"_I now have that ability. Hence the clothing_."

The princess found it amusing that the boy could still turn red in the face despite his body colour having changed.

All three occupants of the FranXX were finally awake, and the trio gazed out out the viewport of the expanded cockpit. For whatever reason, (or fate, as the Princess maintained), the FranXX floated just by the two satellites built a millennium ago built by a long dead race, it's only members staring past both the satellites and the red planet they orbited.

They gazes caught only one, small blue dot.

"Tell me again how Strileiza upgraded itself into a full time space mech?" Zero Two inquired. The FranXX was now large enough for all three of them to live comfortably, as well as their were now two sleeping rooms in the back of the cockpit.  
From what they could see, the rest of the FranXX had been proportioned with the head, it's torso longer, arms and legs widened and elongated to correct lengths.

The lance tipped with the sacred bond of their species was slung across the mech's back, ready to pulled out if needed.

_"Fate._" the princess replied dully. She maintained her gaze on that blue orb she knew was home. She turned to the two lovers. "_Can we get going now? I do believe you two have a promise to keep._"

Hiro turned to her surprise. "How do you-" he started.

"_My soul was tethered to the both of yours._" the princess explained. She sighed, or at least did the mental equivalent of one. "_It helped that I have strong connections to both of you_."

"What connections? I don't get it." Zero Two again.

The princess scoffed. "_I can barely understand it myself_."

"You still haven't told us how you got here with us."

"_...I don't want, or need, to talk about it._" the princess stated. She spoke no more, instead choosing to ignore her new kin and stare longingly in the direction of Earth.

Hiro and Zero Two glanced at each other and shrugged. No point asking pointless questions. Hiro pulled his partner closer and kissed her briefly. "Let's go home, Zero Two."

She smiled. "Let's go home, Darling."

The two walked over to the mech controls, which hadn't change at all. They got into their respective positions, and the FranXX powered up. With a burst of power from the rear thrusters, the FranXX cut it's way through space, in the direction of the planet they all called home.

* * *

Goro looked satisfied at the giant tree. He smiled as he heard someone trudged up the slope to meet him.

"I think they would like it." Ichigo said, upon reaching her partner's side.  
Goro nodded, wrapping his arm around the blue haired girl, and looked at the result of a week of work.

Many of the former parasites with artistic skills and contributed to this memorial. Painted onto the trunk of the tree (which had grown at an exponential rate in the last year), was a mural of a blue and red jian bird, intertwined, majestic in all its glory, taking to to the stars.

"So do I," Goro agreed. The two shared a quick kiss before heading back down.  
Ichigo looked back one last time, and stopped Goro with a tug on his arm. "Look," she said.

The blonde looked back to see a light, similar to the one from two years ago, shining on the tree. He shared a grin with the bluette. "I guess they do like it."  
The two stood like that for a while, gazing at the tree from below and enjoying each other's embrace.

* * *

It had been three years since those two entered the Gate, Goro thought. And one since that light shone on us for three days. He sighed. He had long ago come to terms that they weren't coming back, and he, after grieving the loss of his friends, aspired to live on, and spur humanity to new heights, in honor of the two partners.

That said, he wanted that honor to be widespread amongst them.

"A festival?" Koroko. "What for?"  
Squad 13 clustered in the common area in the rebuilt Misteilin as Goro explained his idea. His idea was a simple one.

"We're sorely in need of a break," he told them, "And this would be the perfect time to do it. It was around this same time-"

"That light shone for three whole days. A three day break sounds awesome!" Zorome chimed in.

"And it'd be the perfect way to...honor Hiro and Zero Two."  
Most of the squad lowered the eyes in sadness. They rarely spoke of the two these days, and the other former parasites knew better than to ask. They had all seen them leave.  
And deep down, they knew they weren't coming back.

"Let's do it." Naomi spoke up. "I never got to know Zero Two, but she sounds like a great person, from what you've told me. They deserve at least that much."

"Yeah! We can do it!" Miku chirped.

"We're right behind you," Mitsuru spoke up.

"Y-yeah!" Futoshi spoke up.

Ikuno simply opted to nod her head in agreement.

Goro looked at Ichigo, who flashed him a grin. He looked back at the group. "Let's do it, then!"

The making of the festival went underway.


	3. Chapter 3

"_No_."

"C'mooon," Zero Two whined. "Tell us, please?"

"_No. Stop bothering me."_ the princess' irritated voice replied. She was trying to concentrate, damn it!

"Zero Two…" Hiro chided. "Leave her if she wants to be left alone."

"Fine...But only 'cause you asked me, darling!"

The princess, while keeping up the pretense that she didn't care what they did, was actually watching them very closely.

It had been a week since they had come back from the dead, and she had taken great care to notice any changes in the hybrids.

Fortunately (at least, she assumed) the only things of interest that had happened was that their skin colours reverted to that of a normal human's complexion. The horns would had remained the same had the two of them not polished and whittled the horns down to more preferable lengths.

Her musings (and concentration) were shattered once again by Hiro speaking.

"Hey, Princess," Hiro asked. "Uh..it'd be nice to know your name?"

Mentally, she scowled. "_Call me what I am. 'Princess,' or 'My princess' will do fine."_

"Do you...have a name?" Hiro asked.

When the princess stayed silent, he and Zero Two shared concerned looks.

"Do you want a name?" Hiro asked, more hesitantly.

"_No thanks." _the princess replied_._ She stood up from where she was sitting and retreated to her room.

* * *

Nine-Alpha woke up.

That was not an unusual occurrence; living things tended to wake up and fall asleep at their leisure. Except he wasn't living. Or at least, he shouldn't be. He looked around and found his squad mates asleep, on similar beds.

_Hm,_ the elite thought nonchalantly. _I thought I was dead. _He was more surprised to see he was still sleepy. _I'll deal with that problem tomorrow,_ he thought, his usual proactiveness stamped down for once. The elite fell back asleep.

* * *

_This damn rag is messing with my connection with my kin, _the princess mused. She looked around her room for anything useful, preferably something skintight to wear- the less clothing, the less interference.

She didn't really have this problem before.

Probably because she didn't wear this much clothing before.

Her eyes caught a pamphlet on a table to her side. What surprised her is that it was in her species written language.

She chalked it down to fate again.

Opening the pamphlet, she took note that it was apparently a sewing manual for her old outfit, strangely. It also gave her pretty specific instructions on where the materials were in her room.

She simply shrugged, gathered the materials, and began to sew.

If anyone had been bothered to open her door, they would've found the princess smiling softly.

...

...

...

"Do you hear humming?" Zero Two murmured.

Hiro chuckled. "Go back to sleep, Zero Two. It'll be fine."

His statement fell on deaf ears. She had already fallen asleep again, burying her head into the crook of his neck.

Pretty soon, they were both asleep.

* * *

**AN: Shorter than what I prefer, but it's been a busy week.**

**Also, don't expect a straight schedule. It's difficult to keep churning out weekly chapters for me. Anyways, hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

The trio of Klaxo Sapiens were exploring their surroundings of the upgraded FranXX when Hiro came across a compartment filled with food.

"Huh. Where'd all this come from?"

"_What's that?"_ The princess approached the hybrid and peered into the compartment.

"It's food-"

"_No, that small thing wrapped in plastic."_

Zero Two was at their side in an instance. "Candy!" she squealed. She picked up a green piece and turned to her darling. "Say 'ahh'!" she chirped.

Hiro complied and was rewarded with the sweet/sour taste of candy and a peck on the cheek. He chuckled and kissed her back.

"_What's candy?"_

The two hybrids looked at the princess in shock. "How-could you not know?" Zero Two was horrified. To live without the knowledge of something so sweet…

"_I have spent sixty million years underneath the earth. I missed a few things, obviously."_ the princess retorted.

Damn. She forgot her si-dna donor was psychic. "Open you mouth." Zero two command.

The princess' eye twitched. "You dare command me to-"  
In her rage, she growled, which inadvertently opened her mouth, and Zero Two used that opportunity to stuff another piece of candy in the Klaxo Sapien royal's mouth.

The princess froze.  
It tasted like heaven  
Despite the last time she ate was before her eon-long hibernation, long before the formation of human civilization, or humanity itself, her taste buds were still as picky as she remembered. She had always been a picky eater, if her memory wasn't faulty.  
But for this piece of god-given food, she would make an exception.

Without a second glance at her hybrid counterparts, she ripped the compartment door off, and grabbed of the box full of sweets within. _Mine. _She strode off to one of the two rooms in the back before Zero Two could retaliate, closed the door, locked it, ad sat down to enjoy her plunder. She could hear her pink-haired clone pounding (and denting) the door.

"Hey! Give that back!" she yelled.

"_No_."

"Give! It! Back!"

"_Try me_."

The pistil slammed on door once more before growling, and stalked away in defeat, leaving the princess with her plunder. As she popped another one of the sweet orbs of gold into her mouth, she heard Hiro chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Zero Two growled, clearly still upset at the loss of the sweet treasure.

Hiro tried to stifle his laughter. "You two were arguing like sisters-" He realized his mistake to late, and berated himself as the mental presence in the back of his head seemed to screech in anger.  
That, and Zero Two's screeching wasn't helping either.

"We are-"

"-_Not sisters!"_

* * *

**A/N: Shorter than usual (again.) Think of this as a oneshot, I guess.**


	5. Chapter 5

The former parasites of Squad 13 awoke to the shaking of the ground, and the screams of confusion and fear from outside.

"The hell?" Goro exclaimed. He quickly donned his slippers and jacket and rushed out of his room, meeting up with other parasites who milled in the hallway with confusion and apprehension, Mitsuru and Kokoro holding Aie protectively in their arms.

It had been a pretty stressful week for Goro.

Planning a city-wide festival (their community had grown quite a bit in the past three years) was hard enough, _then _someone had found the Nines in a hospital room (even though they had been _dead_ for said three years), and now he had to deal with earthquakes?

His communicator, which he always kept in his pocket, buzzed. He checked the caller ID, discovering it was Nana's.

Nana and Hachi (Squad 13's as well as the other pseudo-adults) had become the parasites' de-facto parents, as well as administrators, and since their jobs required so much work, they hardly talked to Squad 13 anymore.

"What're you waiting for?" Zorome scowled. He hated having his sleep interrupted. "Answer the damn call."

Goro nodded, feeling a bit nervous with the eyes of his friends solely on him. He flicked the mic on. "Goro here."

"Goro." came Hachi's voice. "We need to speak immediately. Something has come up. Bring the rest of the squad. Hachi out."

"W-wait-!" Goro hung his head as the caller ID disappeared. He turned to his friends. "Lets go. It must be pretty important."

"It probably has something to do with the quakes, right?" Miku thought.

As if reacting to her query, the ground trembled again, and the squadmates could here the wailing of the many infants the city accommodated.

"Stop gaping around and lets go!" Ichigo grabbed her partner by the arm and practically dragged towards the front door.

After sharing a concerned look, the others followed.

Nana was waiting for them at the city center, and ushered them in quickly.

"Alright Nana, give us the details." Ichigo demanded. She hated being left in the dark.

Nana nodded, and spoke as they headed to the center of the building. "The sensors are picking up...Klaxosaur movement."

Squad 13 froze.

"K-klaxosaurs!" Futoshi squeaked.

"But-they became one with the earth, didn't they?" Mitsuru questioned.

"Yes. Those earthquakes we've been feeling tonight-that was the Klaxosaur ships taking off, as well as the Klaxosaurs becoming active again."

"Where are the rest heading? Do we need to evacuate?" Goro looked at Nana anxiously.

"The sensors show that the land-based Klaxosaurs appear to be heading towards the Gran Crevasse."

"How many?"

"All of them. Every single Klaxosaur on the continent we can detect is on the move."

The group stopped speaking, continuing to walk in silence. First the Nines, and now this. What the hell was going on?

* * *

Where the hell did she get a new outfit? Zero Two seethed, somewhat annoyed. She had been stuck in the same parasite suit (which was strange; she wasn't wearing that when she became Apus) and was pissed that the royal washboard managed to obtain a new outfit.

"_I made it."_

"Gah. I forgot you could do that."

_"It was not hard to figure out what you were thinking."_

The princess had traded her white gown for the black, skintight suit pieces that looked identical to the ones she had been wearing before death.

All in all, she looked about the same when they first met.

"Why'd you make it then?"

_"So we could get home faster. Too much clothing..."_ the princess grimaced, annoyed._ "How long do you think it will take to get there?"_

"...A month?" Zero Two ventured.

"_A year at least."_

"WHAT!? I don't wanna be stuck in here with you for a year!" the taller girl shrieked.

"_The feeling is mutual, I assure you,"_ the princess replied dryly. She suddenly stiffened. "_Shut up for a moment."_

Zero Two uncharacteristically obeyed the command and watched the princess concentrated.

Hiro yawned as he left his room and walked over to the the two. He was about to say hello (there was no 'morning' in space) when his partner shushed him silently, then pointed the princess. Hiro silently moved to join Zero Two near the front of the cockpit and watched the blue Klaxo Sapien as she concentrated.

Finally, she seemed to relax, her eyes filled with mirth. "_The ship will be here tomorrow, and we'll be back home before the end of the next day."_

"Uh...what'd you do?"

"_The less clothing I have, the less hindrance I have with my- our brethren."_ She still wasn't used to not being the only one of her kind. "_I sent them a telepathic message and our coordinates, but that was all I could do."_ she turned to look directly at the two lovers. "_Also, from the brief message they sent back, apparently your human friends-"_ at that, the blue royal's nose scrunched, "_-have built a large settlement near what you call the Gran Crevasse. They seem to be doing fine."_

Hiro sighed in relief. He had a feeling that everything had turned out okay for his friends, but now he had confirmation. "I'll just...go back to sleep." The hybrid walked back to his room, unaware that Zero Two had entered said room with a sly grin while he had been conversing with the princess.

Said princess smirked inwardly. _Sleep? I highly doubt it._

* * *

The entirety of the Klaxosaur fleet arrived a few hours later. The princes watched the two lovebirds as they piloted Space-Strelitzia (a name her clone had come up with) into the hanger of one of the ships. Upon landing, all the Klax ships, excluding two, immediately changed course and headed to the blue planet. The last two continued in the opposite direction towards the Red Planet.

Zero Two marveled at the ship, and the princess remembered that her clone had never been in one. "_Come along, child. I shall show you around."_

"'Child?' I'm a head taller than you!"

"_Yet you retain none of that head's smarts."_

"Why, you little-"

Hiro watched the two bicker with merriment in his eyes.

After showing them around the ship, they proceed to go to the bridge, where they watched the stars bypass them as they got ever closer to Earth.

The princess stared out of the viewport, gazing with a longing Hiro didn't know she had. Zero Two looked like she wanted to have a conversation with the princess, a private one judging from the look she sent him.

Getting the hint, Hiro left the bridge and wandered around the ship for a while. He wondered why those Klax ships had deviated from the rest of the fleet, then nudged the thought from his mind. The walk helped him relax a little bit more, and it piqued his curiosity. Inside a room he had come across, featureless, humanoid drones lay in stasis. He assumed the were an automated crew, which would explain why the ships were in working order after sixty million years of idle existence. He shrugged and turned back. _I wonder what the girls are talking about..._

* * *

"So," Zero Two started. She was attempting to break the ice that had only thickened upon her darling's departure. "Did you know I existed? Y'know, before you threw me out of my FranXX?"

"_I was aware, yes."_ the princess replied nonchalantly.

The way that she acted so uncaring pissed her off. "So you knew what APE-"

"_VIRM." _

"-was doing to me?"

"_Yes."_

"And you let them?!" Zero Two growled."

"_Yes. What of it?"_ The princess shot the taller girl a non-caring look, secretly annoyed that the taller girl would ask her such trivial questions.

"You bitch."

The feeling gave way to cold fury.

"_Repeat that statement."_ the princess dared.

"You heard me! I had to put up with torture while you, the closest thing I have to a mother, looked on without a care! You act like you care about your species, but you don't give a damn!"

"_Shut up." _The princess growled.

"Prove it then! Would you really let one of your own be tortured for their entire childhood, cause that's what it seems like to me!"

"_Shut _**_up_**_."_

"And when your finally given the chance to avenge them, you go and fail at doing that one job!" Zero Two shot the princess a mocking look. "You were totally willing to give up-"

"**_ENOUGH!" _**the princess roared. Only now did Zero Two realize she had pushed the princess too far.

But 'now' was far too late

The princess' tail split into blue and black tendrils, and they shot towards the pink-haired girl, quickly ensnaring her, rendering her helpless.

Zero Two barely had time to take a quick breath before the princess started to strangle her.

At the same time, the princess began unknowingly flooding their mental connection with old memories.

...

...

...

As Zero Two slunk closer to death, she saw the world through her mother's eyes.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter is better lengthened than the other ones. Also, two chapters in one day. A personal best for this story.**

**...**

**Don't expect this to become a regular thing.**

**See you next time.**


	6. Chapter 6

**This is the story of a princess.**

* * *

The world around her burned. The buildings crumbled, metal debris turned to molten slag and ships streaked across the sky.

Yet she was not harmed.

**I was the last child of a dead dynasty to a dying race.**

Zero Two groaned. Where was she..?

**A symbol of hope in our time of need.**

That voice… the princess?

**A fail-safe, should the worst come about.**

Over there! A person approaching. A kid?

**I was their hope. Their link to the idea that life could resume at it had long ago.**

She looked around, taking in the sight of the ruined city before turning her eyes back onto the blue-horned child now in front of her.

**Yet, even in that, I failed.**

* * *

**This is the story of a monster.**

* * *

Something was wrong.

He didn't know what it was, or how dangerous, but somehow, he knew.

He could feel it.

He had been walking back to the bridge when he had sensed some sort of mental agony erupting from Zero Two's end of their mental connection. As he got closer, the pain increased, and Hiro broke out into a run. _What's happening, Zero Two..?_

* * *

"The drone has been successfully deployed." Hachi stated.

The former parasites of Squad 13 had been sitting around the large round projector as they contemplated their precarious situation. Finally, Mitsuru had come up with the suggestion that they send an unmanned drone to the klaxosaur fortress.

"It may give us a peace of mind, as well as sorely needed intelligence." he had argued. "We can't afford to be left blind."

And so, the group agreed, and the drone was sent eyes were currently glued to the projected screen in front of them, so focused the video feed that they didn't notice when a blonde of their age walked into the room.

The voice of Nine-Alpha brought the parasites and administrators back to the reality. "Why does the building sound like it's trying to pull itself apart?"

"Nine-Alpha." Mitsuru looked at the elite with distrust in his eyes. Kokoro sharing the same disdain-filled look.

Clearly they had regained their memories, Nine-Alpha noted dryly. He noticed a child sleeping in Kokoro's arms. _And that is the result. Is that what all children look like? Pathetic._

"Nine-Alpha, we believe the earthquakes are being caused by Klaxosaurs-"

"Then we'll go kill them. Give me and my squad some FranXX and that problem will be taken care off."

"We're not killing the Klaxosaurs. We were enemies once-no need to be enemies again." Goro stressed.

"If you insist." The elite at down with the other parasites besides Hachi. "Let's see what we have here."

The drone had finally reached the Crevasse and was currently doing a flyby. None of the Klaxosaur sentries tried to destroy it, so that was a good group noticed a lack of Conrad-Class Klaxosaurs, and the few there were seemed to be heading into the same hole that Star Entity had emerged from.

Nine-Alpha frowned. From what Papa (damn his soul) had told him, Star-Entity was a mass collection of Klaxosaurs, molded and tempered to form the ultimate weapon.

"Where are all the Conrads..? Hachi wondered aloud.

Goro shrugged. "Maybe they're trying to repair whatever is down there?"

"Either that, or-"

"They're trying to build something," Nine-Alpha interjected.

"No one asked for your opinion, smart-ass," Zorome huffed.

"What, do you not trust me?" the alpha asked dryly.

The answers were varying from 'No, nope, nadda, not even at bit,' and so on. "How could we?" Mitsuru spat out. "You joined us for one battle, only to fight. Not to mention you were Pa-that bastard's right hand parasites, not to mention what you did to me and Kokoro-"

"Yes, yes, we've all established that you're biased in your hatred-"

"And you came back from the dead."

Nine-Alpha had to admit, that was a valid point. "If I knew anything about how we came back to life, I assure you, I would tell you simply to get the trust issues out of the way."

Miku's eyes narrowed at the former-elite. "Hey...what if VIRM resurrected him? They can absorb people, right? What's stopping them from bringing people back from the dead?"

There was an unnerving silence before Ichigo spoke up. "Hiro and Zero Two. That's what stopped them."

The silence returned, and the group returned their gaze onto the monitor.

They didn't notice the blue light shining faintly in the sky.

* * *

The crumbling city disappeared as Zero Two and the blue girl (the princess, Zero Two deduced) seemingly walked into a new scene. Their new placement was seemingly new, with no sign of war or tear in the building, which appeared to be some sort of hospital room.

**Here is where my reign began.**

A wailing infant, and two Klaxo Sapiens, their features obscured by the hospital lights, snuggled together, the female seemingly lying on a hospital bed, holding the child, while the male clung to the two of them.

**The war had not yet reached our part of the world, and every day, millions of our soldier died to ensure that it did not.**

The scene changed breifly, showing a battlefield filled with the corpses of both VIRM and Klaxo soldiers, as VIRM's war machines waded through the carnage.

**Yet, it happened anyways.**

The scene changed,

**During my youth, I was taught everything our species had to offer, in tactics and warfare, in our sciences, in our history, our culture, and many more things. I excelled in warrior training, but that was expected, given I had the strongest link to the Great Leviathan.**

_Who was the Great Leviathan-_

**Our myths spoke of him as the creator of species. In an ancient conflict, his blood spilled, and mixed with the Earth's primordial soup, and gave form to us, his children.**

The scene changed briefly again, this time to a mural depicting what appeared to be a large black and blue dinosaur locked in combat with a…

...

Was that a three-dreaded dragon?

**Our royalty have always been the closest to his bloodline, often being rewarded with bodily mutations different from our other kin. Sometimes, dorsal fins on your back, other times…**

The blue child's extra limb flicked.

**A tail. **

Zero Two had barely paid attention to the impromptu history lesson, instead focusing on the memories flowing through her head that _definitely_ weren't hers.

She had been a real prick, she realized.

"I-I had no idea-" Zero Two shakily began. Only to be cut off by a loud, rage filled wail.

The blue child before her tensed, before beginning to glow bright blue, and she grew taller, to her regular size. _The princess-_

Zero Two found she couldn't move. She could do nothing as the mental embodiment of the princess' rage grasped her neck with clawed hands, and began to squeeze.

_**Get out.**_

_**Get out.**_

_**Get out.**_

Zero Two began to fade. She knew she was dying-she had felt it once.

Before she could fully succumb, she heard her life line pull her out of hazy waters, the pain disappearing, the princess receding.

A voice.

_..ro...o_

_Zer...Two…_

_Zero Two!_

* * *

Shitshitshit!

Hiro ran with inhuman speed, making all haste towards where he had left his partner. He growled. Something was hurting her! Some_one_ was hurting her!  
He'd make them pay.

He reached the room and ripped through the sliding doors, and took the situation in a stride.

The princess, with her eyes seeming glazed over, was strangling Zero Two- _his _Zero Two- who also had her eyes glaze over.

He wasted no time tackling the princess to the ground, getting her to release her grip on the taller girl, before running over to said girl.

"Zero Two!" he cried. "Zero Two, wake up! Zero Two-"

With a gasp, both girls woke up at the same time. Paying no heed to the princess, he embraced his world in a loving hug, whose eyes were currently filled with tears, before turning around to beat the living _crap _out the princess-

Only to find he was staring into eyes filled with more rage he could muster in his lifetime.

The princess spoke only two words. "_Get. Out."_

Hiro, pulling a still-distraught Zero Two, quickly heeded the order, leaving the princess to her own devices.

* * *

Zero Two didn't respond to her darling's frantic questions about what happened, instead choosing to numbly focus on the memories that were hers, but not.

Particularly one.

A blue child, strapped to a table.

* * *

**A/N Edit: To whom it may concern (random guest[s]), the princess will have eyes for no one. Not Hiro, nor anyone else. Not now, or later in the story.**

**See you next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Look at me, keeping up with a mostly-weekly schedule.**  
**Didn't think I had it in me.**

* * *

The princess saw red.

_Breathe. Breathe. You can't kill them, remember? Hope for your species, remember?_

Still, she seethed.

That _fake_ who had been so readily used by the invaders dared to judge her? After everything she went through? Everything she sacrificed? And then she had the audacity to breach her mind, casually strolling through memories that were most certainly _not _hers?

She wanted to kill something.

Seeing as she had banished the only other living beings on the ship out of sight (that, and they were the last hope of her species surviving and repopulating), she decided to take it out in the equipment in the room.

So her tail split into eight and began to wreak havoc.

After destroying all the non-important stuff in the room, she calmed down enough to notice her crown was looser than usual. _That's odd._ With a click, the crown dislodged itself from the princess' horn, and the Klaxo Sapien took it off her head and inspected the onyx artifact.

A piece had been chipped off, leaving a small gap in the crown. She must've landed on it when she was tackled.

The princess sighed. Of _course_ the one thing her parents had left her had to break. Not like this day was getting any better, would it?

She resumed her destruction.

* * *

The two significant others were leaning against Strelitzia leg, simply embracing. Zero Two took comfort in the warmth her darling provided.

"Zero Two…" Hiro ventured. He didn't want to pry, but if something was upsetting her..._I won't let her go through anything painful alone. not again. _"What happened in there? I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but-"

Zero Two shook her head. "No, it's fine. It's just… I asked her a question."

From the look on Hiro's face, she could tell he guessed said question. "Her answer pissed you off."

"Yeah. Then I pissed _her _off. And she kinda just…" she trailed off.

"Snapped?" Hiro provided.

"Yeah. Then I think I went unconscious, and I saw her memories."

Hiro's eyes widened in shock. "She really must've hated that."

Zero Two smirked weakly. "No duh."

"Don't joke. She nearly killed you."

"Yeah, but she showed me her memories willingly."

"Really?"

"Well, sort of. Her...subconscious did?" Zero Two guessed. "I think she wants to talk about it, but doesn't know who to speak to."

"Like you, when we met again."

"Yeah." Zero Two smiled, reminiscing on the day she had rediscovered her darling. "I think she's just lonely."

Hiro mused about it for a moment. "Yeah, that seems about right. She _did_ say something about cutting herself off from her emotions when she lent us her power."

"Jeez, now I feel like a jerk," she pouted.

"Just tell her you're sorry, Zero Two. It's better than doing nothing at all."

Zero Two sighed happily. Darling always knew what to say to make her feel better. "Yeah! You're right!"

"Of course I am," Hiro chuckled. "Now get going. Don't want to keep a princess waiting, do you?"

She snuggled closer to him, using him as a pillow.. "Mm...five more minutes."

Then the alarm blared.

* * *

Goro collapsed onto the sofa, tired and sore. The other prarasites had gone their seperate ways, most going to check on the Nines, but Goro had retreated back to Mistiltein. The emergency meeting hadn't put his worries to rest, even though the Klaxosaurs didn't appear to planning anything hostile. What was going on? What could've caused this to happen? After the light in the sky, the Klaxosaurs had buried themselves in the earth, and they seemed content with letting humanity- or at least what was left of it- have the planet.

So why did they come back? And who was controlling the Klaxosaur ships? The only people he could think of where the codes 001, the Klaxosaur Princess (he had read her declassified file), or code 002. Zero Two.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking. _They're dead, Goro. Get that into your head._ _It couldn't have been them._

Although…

If it wasn't the two female Klaxo Sapiens, who could it be?

He was disturbed to find he had no other answer.

* * *

The princess' tentacles reformed into a single tail, and she looked around at the carnage.

The room was fill with metallic scraps and debris from her rage.

If it was any consolation, she didn't feel like killing anyone now.

The princess looked down at her now-broken crown, frowning. _I need to get this fixed._ Her thoughts wandered until they landed on her clone's unwanted entry into her memories. _Next time she tries that, I __**will **__kill her._ She sighed. _I was not the most tactful in approaching her question, I admit. But it matters not- I will kill her should she repeat it__. _After all, she was the expendable.

Not hat she wanted it to come to that. She had standards.

She sat on the metallic floor and stared at the broken family heirloom with dispassionate eyes, trying to quench the slight sadness within. _Stupid emotions. _

Then she noticed something disturbing,

She hadn't realized it before, but the ship's speed had increased greatly. She only noticed because the stars where starting to blur as they hurtled towards earth.

Wondering when and why the vessel had sped up, she mentally commanded it to stop.

It didn't.

The frown she wore on her face darkened, and she called out again.

Still nothing.

She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to feel the ship mentally. Her eyes opened and narrowed with suppressed suspicion as she realized she couldn't feel it. Them. She couldn't feel her brethren.

Before she could ponder why, she caught sight of something in the viewport as the ship continued pacing itself with the reckless speed. She recognized the obstruction as the human space station. The vessel that was-

Currently in the direct path of the ship.

The princess wasted no time in extending her tentacles and using them to propel herself towards Strelizta.

* * *

The proximity alarm went off.

"Damnit, what now?" Hiro growled. Couldn't he spend _one_ moment with his Zero Two without _something_ interrupting them?

His seething was cut of when the princess stormed into the landing bay, crown in hand, and immediately caught sight of the two. She then quickly turned and made their way towards them, seemingly in a hurry.

Zero Two growled at the approaching female. Did she want to finish what she started?

She was quickly proven wrong as the princess wasted no time in using a tentacle to grab the two and then proceeded to climb Stelizta. She opened the cockpit and shoved Hiro gently into his stamen terminal, and put Zero Two in his arms. Keeping her grip on them, the princess used her other tentacles to connect to the pistil terminal, and took control of Strelitzia.

As soon as she did so, she made the machine smash through the much smaller entrance to the rest of the ship and began to rush towards the heart of the ship.

"Hey! What's gives, sis!?" Zero Two yelled.

"What are you-" Hiro began, only to be cut off by hisses, snaps, and grunts emitted from the speakers in the halls outside the mech.

The princess seemed to pale slightly as she pushed the machine harder.

If the two hybrids knew the language of the princess, they too, would have paled.

* * *

**"Collision in three…"**

* * *

The mech reached the engine room, tearing through its doors.

* * *

**"Two…"**

* * *

The princess piloted the mech as close to the power source as possible, then curled into a fetal position to better protect the cockpit.

* * *

**"One…"**

* * *

Disconnecting from the mech, the blue Klaxo Sapien wrapped her tentacles around herself and the two hybrids in a sort of cocoon.

Then they ship impacted the Cosmos.

* * *

**_IMPACT._**

* * *

There was a loud 'boom,' and every window on the upper floor of the parasite city shattered.

The sound itself woke Goro from his nap on the sofa, startling him so much he fell to the floor. He noticed wearily that it was nighttime again. He groaned and rubbed his sore back as he stood, then remembered why he had woken up.

With new urgency, the former parasite rushed outside to witness whatever spectacle was going on out in the sky.

What he saw, he would never forget, for it was a sign, yet unknown to him, that the impossible was indeed, possible.

In the darkness of the night, to lights shone. Two stars, blue and one gold in color, descended from the heavens at an alarming rate. Goro blinked in shock. _That boom I heard- did those things break the sound barrier?!_

He continued to watch as the golden star fell not to far behind a nearby mountain range, while the blue light seem to fall in the direction of the Eastern Sea.

"Goro!"

Turning towards the cry, he found Ichigo rushing towards him, worry and fear plastered on her face. "I'm fine," he reassured her.

She nodded relieved, and fiddled with her bangs. "I'm glad. But...this couldn't be a coincidence."

Goro put his forefinger and thumb to his chin and stroked. He absentmindedly noted he had grown some stubble in the last year. "No...I don't think so either."

The two jolted when a 'thoom' was heard- it seemed that the golden star had finally landed.

"We'll have to go investigate this personally, you know." Goro stated. He knew that it entailed getting into their FranXXs, something they had avoided as much as possible ever since completing construction.

The bluette sighed. "I know. If getting back into our FranXXs means it'll keep us safe and aware, yeah."

"Whatever it takes, right?" He gripped her hand.

She squeezed back gratefully. "Whatever it takes."

* * *

_Somewhere over the (formerly known as) British Isles…_

The camera made note of the flaming black and blue object that came screaming out of the sky, instantly connecting it to the events of blue and purple anomaly it had recorded three years prior. It noted the blue star's trajectory and began to broadcast its findings back to base.

Those findings need to be scrutinized.

And scrutinized they were.


	8. Chapter 8

Ugh. She felt like shit.

_What happened?_

Ah, yes, that's right. They crashed.

Zero two groaned as she pulled herself upright, curved horns (_They grew again…_) rubbing against a blue and black ceiling.

_Wait, what?_

The hybrid looked at her surroundings. She appeared to be in a small cocoon that seemed to have absorb most of the impact. Then she realized she wasn't alone.  
Her Darling appeared to be fine, just unconscious, but the princess' face was set in a grimace of pain. They must've been tossed around during the descent, the princess taking the brunt of the pain.

The princess stirred, and opened her eyes, her cold gaze sweeping across the confines of the cocoon. Upon seeing her charges were okay, her eyes softened ever-so-slightly, and she unfurled her tentacles, revealing the the cockpit seemed to have shrunk back to its former size.

Zero Two paid no heed to that, however, and suddenly hugged the princess, to her surprise. "Next time, tell us when we're going to crash."

The princess just looked at her in mild confusion, as if she couldn't understand what she was saying.

Zero Two frowned. "What? Something wrong with warning us about stuff? Get used to it."

The princess' brow furrowed. Then, her eyes shone slightly with realization, and she put her crown back on its resting place on her head  
Immediately after doing so, she gritted her teeth in pain.

"_cAN't-...owbROK-...UNde- mE-" _She flung the crown off and hissed.

"Can you...not speak? You can't understand me, can you?"

The princess simply gave her an exasperated look.

_Well, I guess darling needs to teach you how to talk. This oughta be fun!_

* * *

"All para-capacities are green, you are clear to launch. Good luck."

Delphinium, freed of the safety harnesses that had kept it in place for over a year, took a step forward.

Goro noted it was a lot harder to move, but also a bit easier. _Because we both trust each other-no, because we love each other._

"Don't get killed, ya wusses!" Zorome called out from below. The rest of Squad 13 concurred with Zorome, and gave their own "Come back soon's" as the FranXX departed from the hanger.

"Hey, Goro?" Ichigo asked. "Do you think the Klaxosaurs will be upset that we're using FranXXs again?"

Goro shrugged. "They seem pretty occupied."

The FranXX picked up speed as it left the city limits, passing by a distant Gran Crevvase, and the two pilots noticed something odd.

Every single Klaxosaur that they could see had their gaze on the skies towards the eastern Sea.

"Wonder what that's about?" Ichigo mused aloud. Snapping herself out from her reverie, she added, "We should get to the mountain range in about an hour."

Goro groaned. "We should've had Ikuno install an auto-pilot."

An hour and a half later, the partners had reached the crash site. Delphinium readied it's twin blades as it approached the large, smoldering crater.

Ichigo's eyes widened when they peered in. "Thats-!"

"That's the Cosmos!" Goro gasped. "But, it was floating in a controlled orbit! How'd it crash!?"

"Maybe some surveillance survived."

"Maybe. Let's take a look."

* * *

_Joy. Now I need to learn the human tongue. _

The princess was somewhat annoyed that she had forgotten that it was her crown that enabled her to talk to others mentally.  
She grimaced again. She wasn't supposed to forget. She was supposed to remember.

…

She really needed to fix her crown, but that had to wait until they return to what the humans once called North America. The impact with the human vessel had flung them far off their intended course, and she couldn't contact the fleet, because for the she needed the crown. Which was broken.

Damn it all. At least when her soul resided in Her Child (what did the humans call it? 'Star Entity?') she didn't need to communicate verbally.

"Okay, now try saying 'Zero Two.'" The voice of Ningen broke through her frustrated thoughts. She had quickly picked up on understanding some of the basics, so she could at least understand them.

Conversing, however, was a different story.

Hiro sweat-dropped as the princess refused to move her mouth to speak. _She really doesn't want to do this. _He sighed. There wasn't really any choice. They weren't going anywhere for awhile.

They had used Strelitzia to dig themselves out of the wreckage with surprisingly no injuries to the mech that would impede travel. Not to say it wasn't damaged greatly, but he swore that the mech was slowly healing itself. _Maybe 'cause it was a Klaxosaur?_ "Princess, come on! Just try!"

"..."

"Please...?"

"..."

Hiro thought for a moment, then decided to provoke her into attempting to speak, "Fine. Since you can't talk, you can't say no to me giving you a name."  
He took slight enjoyment in the look on the princess' face, which was one of annoyance and begrudging agreement in his statement, so Hiro began to think. After a moment, something he had read before hopped into his mind. "How about… 'Hime?' It means princess in a dead language, I think."

"..." The princess still said nothing, but he noted that she did not immediately kill him, so he supposed the name was adequate.

"Any luck, Darling?" Zero Two purred at her partner.

"I could use some help."

"Sorry, I'm piloting," she giggled.

"You just want to see us suffer, don't you?" he asked dryly.

Zero Two inclined her head to the side, so he could see her grinning. "Yup!"

Hiro groaned. "Lets try this again, Hime."

The newly christened Hime hissed slightly in exasperation. She'd need to get her clone/sister/daughter (she was many things, the princess noted ruefully) back for that.

An idea struck her, although it involved her speaking the human tongue, which meant that Ningen would stop bothering her.

Two birds with one stone.

The princess then moved forward and and brought her face closer to Hiro's, far closer than personal space allowed, face betraying nothing. She had observed some of her clone's behaviors, and she noted that acting like her sister in certain aspects would fluster the boy faster. _If she can manage the act, then that dictates that I should do better._

"Uh… Hime?"

Still, she came closer, finally nose to nose with the flicked her tongue across his lips in a teasing manner. _How do I word this? Ah, that's it. _"Thanks for name, dah~_ling_."

Hiro pressed himself as far back into the stamen seat as was allowed, looking like he wanted to disappear before someone ended him. _He is loyal, at least. That is a good, he will suit my...sister well._

_Speaking of which..._

She held back an amused laugh as Zero Two disconnected from the pistil terminal and lunged at her with a screech, intent on wrecking havoc on she who committed infidelity with her Darling.

_If this is what living with them is like, I can get used to this._


	9. Chapter 9

The gravity of what Hiro did only hit her an hour later, after narrowly, and miraculously, dodging her sister's wrath.

_I have a name._

She could see why her sister had fallen for blue Klaxo Sapien, besides the fact that he was indeed a fine male specimen. Not that it mattered, she had no romantic interest in the former human anyways.

Her thoughts spiraled back to the fact that in the first time ever, she had name. Not just 'Princess,' or 'Your Highness,' but an actual name.

She should find the time to thank him for real.

She watched the two lovers bicker playfully out of the corner of her eyes, facing the screen that allowed them to see outside the FranXX. _Hm. We're nearing the coast. From there we should be able to fly to the next landmass._

As Zero Two had been piloting for most of the time, Hime had taken her sister's place, resulting in the bestial machine turning black and blue. She could smell the sea from beyond the forest of trees the machine walked through. She allowed herself to breath in deeply, enjoying the salty scent of the sea. She had always liked swimming.

Then she caught a whiff of something else.

Something Metallic.

Something big.

She sent the machine into a sprint, bounding past the trees with amazing speed-faster than other FranXXs. In no time, they had cleared the trees and rushed onto the sands of the coast.

Just in time for a giant fist to smash into them.

* * *

Delphinium had been rooting around the crash site when it's pilots noticed something on the edge of the crater.

A Conrad. A bipedal one, to boot.

Delphinium and it's pilots froze as the Klaxosaur regarded them with curious eyes, and began to clamber down the crater sides. It then…  
Proceed to ignore the FranXX completely. It quickly and methodically swept through the carnage, consuming every last drop of Magma, before leaving, never once looking at the mech again.

Silence reigned supreme.

"...Huh." Goro mused, breaking the tension.. "I guess we really don't have to worry about them."

"I guess not." Ichigo agreed. "Anyways, I don't think we're going to find anything, so lets head back."

"Right you are, Squad Leader," Goro ribbed.

Ichigo laughed. "Goro!"

* * *

Nine-Alpha strode into the hospital room that had become the abode of the resurrected Nines. It had taken him a while to reach the room, owing the hospital was a maze unto itself.

Which was good-the hospital was a large place, so it was unlikely that anyone not wanted would find them. Which was also good, because the Nines were not in good shape.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Nine-Alpha visibly sagged, his calm and proud exterior being replaced with that of a worn out soldier.

He was tired. They all were.

Nine-Delta was traumatized, which was understandable, seeing as she was ripped apart by (what were the aliens called? VIRM?), but she hadn't spoken since she woke up.

Nine-Epsilon had not left her bedside upon catching sight of her. While she slept, he watched, and when she woke, he comforted.

Nine-Zeta, Nine-Theta, and Nine-Eta had done nothing but read what few books Nine-Alpha brought back with him. Silent as usual, somehow exchanging information without opening their mouths.

Nine-Gamma and Nine-Beta would occasionally look outside the window and talk to each other. And sometimes Nine-Alpha, if he was up for it.

Long story short, the Nines had fallen apart as soon as they woke up.

Nine-Alpha leaned against the wall, gathered his thoughts then stood up again. _This can't go on. Not anymore-we'll kill ourselves if we don't do something. _"Nines," he spoke.

He was not surprised when the Nines snapped to attention, forming a line. 'Old habits' goes the saying. "At ease," he dismissed. "I only want to to say that we are going for a stroll within the hour."

Nine-Gamma looked skeptical. "Why?" the pink-haired elite asked rudely.

Nine-Alpha smiled; it was good to know that his (somewhat dysfunctional) family still retained some of their personalities. "Because you guys are boring yourselves in here, as well as sulking, and neglecting training." Nine-Alpha had been very adamant upon waking up that he be allowed to train both inside a FranXX and outside-he recalled that there were always at least two 9 Model FranXXs in reserve should something happen to one and the pilots survive.

The former-parasites of Plantation 13 (who seemed to handle most of the settlement issues) had indeed confirmed that during their scavenging they had come across one and had retrieved it. So he trained, every day, without fail.

It was one of the few things that kept him sane, probably.

"I agree with Nine-Alpha, we should get some fresh air. Being cooped up in here will not help us in the slightest," Nine-Epsilon spoke up.

"The food here is horrible, so I have no objections if going out means getting actual food," Nine-Beta spoke up.

"Then it's decided. Get ready, everyone. We're going into town."

* * *

For once, Zorome and Miku weren't arguing.

They were simply enjoying their meal together. A rarity.

A rarity which Futoshi noticed with no small amount of pleasure as he bustled about his pub, taking orders and directing his chef apprentice. _Papa in Hell, finally._ He giggled childishly. _It was about time that they-_

"Oi! Watch where you're puttin' that fork!"

"Then watch where you're going, baka!"

"What does that even mean!?"

"It means 'idiot,' idiot!"

"The hell you just call me?"

_Aaaand_ they were back at it again.

The parasite-turned-chef sighed. It seemed that they wouldn't get the hints they were (unconsciously) giving each other. Perhaps they needed a nudge?  
_Well then, I guess I should-_

His internal thoughts were cut off when, to his eternal surprise (and horror, somewhat), the Nines walked through the door.

The establishment went silent.

The Nines walked to a table in the corner, striding as if they owned the world, excluding Nine-Alpha and his partner (what was her name? Zeta? Futoshi couldn't remember) walked up to him.

"Your name is Furohi, correct?" the blonde elite assumed.

"Futoshi," the chef corrected.

"This is an eating establishment." A statement, this time.

"Y-yeah." Futoshi nodded.

Nine-Alpha nodded as well. "Can we-" he pointed to his squad in the corner, who appeared to be having a miniature debate of sorts- "be given some food? We are quite tired of hospital food, and I here that this place has quite the selection."

"Of course! The food will be there in a moment." Futoshi scurried off, wondering why the Nines had to visit his pub.

He mentally shrugged. _Let sleeping Klaxosaurs lie._

…

_Jeez, I'm spending to much time around Mitsuru._

* * *

"Would'da look at that." Zorome noticed, argument forgotten. "They finally came out." He was, of course, referring to the Nines.

"Y'know," Miku began, "I heard from Ikuno that Kokoro's planning something for them."

Zorome smirked at the thought. "Who knew Kokoro was one for revenge. Y'know…" he changed the subject abruptly. "We've been doing this a lot lately."

"W-what do you-"

"I mean, we've been hanging out together more. And I just…" Zorome trailed off, at a loss for words.

Miku looked at him hesitantly. "Do...do you not want to hang out?"

Zorome put down that notion quickly. "No!" When Miku looked startled at his outburst, he toned down his voice. "I mean...no, no, I don't want to to stop. I want…"

Zorome didn't realize his expression had softened into something wishful.

"You want..?" Miku prodded.

"You." Zorome blurted out. His eyes widened, and he he swore. "Shit-uh, Miku! I didn't mean-"

"Me?"

Zorome decided to simply burn the cross the bridge before burning it. "...Yeah. I guess, watching the rest of the squad get hitched, it made me feel…"

By this point, Miku had slid her chair to be right beside his. "Lonely?"

Zorome sighed. "Yeah." He leaned into Miku, surprising her. "But, the thing is…"

He looked at her, eyes filled with passion.

"We can be lonely together. What'd you say, Miku?"

Her only response was to hug him. "I'm fine with that, baka."

...

...

...

Totally oblivious to their surroundings, they paid no heed to the cheers or groans of their fellow patrons as the betting pool surrounding ZoroMiku was finally closed.

Futoshi earned a lot of favors that night.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Obviously I'm doing something right, because this fanfiction, in more ways than one, has officially surpassed my old one.**

**I am quite honored, to be honest.**

**There's another authors note at the end, regarding the approaching Summer, among other things.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"T.I.T.A.N. has engaged the target, sir."

"Good. Continue monitoring the situation."

* * *

The princess coughed up blood.

_What hit me?_ She wondered hazily. The event came to her quickly, and she stood up, nearly crashing back down when the FranXX lurched forward.

"Princess! Hang onto something!" Hiro yelled.

Hime looked at the hybrid, whose skin was beginning to turn blue again, and his partner, whose skin was already reddened, at the controls, currently piloting to keep out of reach of the mechanical behemoth outside.

The robot was clunky, obviously (to her) of old human make, the size of a human skyscraper. It's multiple eyes flashed red as it tracked them with malicious intent.

Zero Two grimaced. "That thing's huge, darling!" She grinned slightly at her accidental innuendo.

_Must you_? the princess thought dryly.

"Yeah! I don't think we keep dodging for much longer!" Hiro called back to her. _Papa in hell, can we not get _**_anywhere_** _without crashing or getting attacked by something?!_

As if to clarify that point, the massive robot swung at them again, palm hitting the sands where Strelitzia had just been. The FranXX flew around the behemoth, buzzing around like an antagonizing fly.

The princess used her tentacles to secure herself before glaring at the two. _Get us out of here! _She wanted to shout, but she didn't have the human words for it. _You cannot die here!_

Alas, fate seemed to pay no heed to any of their wishes.

The robot swung it's right arm again, this time making successful contact with the FranXX with a sickening crunch.

The hybrids screamed.

And Strelitzia fell.

* * *

Passing by the Gran Crevasse again, Ichigo was reminded of the final battle between the parasites and the Klaxosaurs- when the truth was revealed.

The memory wasn't exactly a pleasant one.

"Ichigo?"

"I'm fine, Goro. You don't have to worry about me all the time."

"O-oh…"

"Only half." She grinned, and she felt Goro's presence lighten.

"God, I love you."

"I love you too, Goro. Now, let's go back to the Birds Nest. I hate being in these things."

FranXXs. They had stopped using them after most of the harder bits of construction and scavenging were done, as well as destroying all the Magma mines, although the Klaxosaurs mostly beat them to that. Their makeshift city was still mostly running on Magma energy, as making such a major transition from one energy source to another could not, and would not, be possible for another four years. Ikuno's hydro-powered turbine experiments were gaining some steam (Ichigo had complete confidence in her- she had solved the parasite rapid-aging problem soon after Hiro and Zero Two left [possibly thanks to the declassified notes of Werner Frank, but she wasn't to sure on that front]), and she was confident that they could replace most of the Magma powered systems within the next five years.

"We don't have to get there right away, we can afford an extra half-hour off," Goro spoke up, picking up on her fatigue.

He'd always been able to tell. She wished she had realized that sooner. But, she digressed...

Ichigo sighed. She had become the de-facto leader of the Birds Nest (why they had called their settlement that, she didn't know) so she handled all the city's problems.

And there were many.

The child population had exploded around Year Two, not counting the children that had been in cryo freeze for who-knows-how-long, which led to the implementation of rationing as well as sex-ed classes.

Taught by Kokoro.

She honestly didn't know how _that_ one happened.

"Yeah, that sounds nice. Y'know, you're probably the only reason I'm still sane."

"Yeah. Being the unofficial leader of the last vestiges of humanity really puts a strain on your shoulders."

Ichigo twisted her head to glare jokingly at her partner. "Are you trying to make me more depressed?"

Goro chuckled. "Possibly."

The two lapsed back into comfortably silence.

...

..

...

After cruising for a while, the pilots noticed an obstruction ahead of them.

A bipedal black and blue obstruction.

Looking at them. Not at _all _unnerving. (_Nudge nudge **sarcasm **wink wink)_

"Uh… I guess we got to close to the Crevasse." Ichigo sweat dropped.

"Y-yeah…"

As if to affirm this, the Klaxosaur made a shooing motion towards the Birds Nest.

"...Okay, that's new."

Deciding not to press their luck, they adjusted their course.

* * *

**WHAM**

Where… was she?

**WHAM**

It came back to her quickly.

**WHAM**

The hit. The fall.

**WHAM**

Her young companions.

Hime jolted upwards just in time for the robot to once again smash it's fist into the FranXX.

**WHAM**

The princess' gaze shot to the pistil terminal, where Zero Two lay, bruised and bloodied.

**WHAM**

Her eyes caught sight of Hiro, in as bad of shape as his partner.

**WHAM**

She flung the two from their respective stations (making sure to sit them as comfortably as rushed mother instincts allowed [Is that what this feeling was?] in her tentacles, wrapping them tightly, and safely) and took hold of the FranXX.

**WHAM **Down came another blow.

It hurt. So badly.

**WHAM**

The FranXX was starting to dent-

**WHAM**

She could feel her bones cracking, blood mixing with saliva-

**WHAM**

No... no. She could not... _they _could not...

_Get up, then._

**WHAM**

_Get **up**._

**WHAM**

**_GET UP!_**

...

...

...

**CLANG**

* * *

The simple processors of the robot couldn't comprehend this.

It had been in the middle of completing its objective (neutralize target, retrieve target, return to base,) when something proceeded to stop him from doing so.

Namely, a lance held in a defensive position, held by a mecha that couldn't possibly be getting up-

His fist, still pressing down of said mecha, began to rise.

* * *

_They will **not **die here today._

It took the princess every ounce of strength she had to push the FranXX up, using Queen Pike as a brace between her and the massive fist.

The pain from earlier stilled lingered. It still hurt.

But she did not care.

Shoving the fist slightly to the right, the FranXX rolled to the left, freeing itself. The FranXX proceeded to lunge forward as the robot moved to rectify the mistake of letting it free, but Strelitzia dodged the hand, and instead flew in a spiral around the arm, slashing with Queen Pike at every exposed mechanical tendon and weak spot.

Upon reaching the shoulder, one last vicious cut caused the arm to go limp, and the robot gave a mechanical groan as Strelitzia flew beyond its reach, towards the clouds above.

* * *

The man gaped. "That's Impossible! How could something so damaged-!"

"Remain calm," came the reply. "Unload its arsenal."

* * *

The Klaxosaur Princess growled as she twisted Strelitzia's head to see streaks of smoke trailing her. _Missiles._ She slowed for a moment and cleaved one of the projectiles in two, causing it to explode prematurely, catching several others in its blast radius, but the others kept coming.

So the princess kept flying. Her mind quickly ran a few scenarios in her head, before settling on one.

She would only get one shot, though, and if this didn't work…

Well, if it didn't, she wouldn't have the strength for anything else.

She forced Strelitzia to fly faster, keeping a sense on how high they were. It wasn't long before they breached the clouds.

Hime cut the thrusters, and took a moment to capture the bright sky in her memory.

Then, assisted by gravity, flipped the FranXX to face the robot.

* * *

"Oh, no…"

"You don't it will…"

"It certainty looks like it!"

* * *

Strelitzia blasted down with such force that the clouds dispelled, and the missiles blown away, or denoting in a ripple affect due to the increase in pressure.

The princess paid no heed to the burns.

Nor the gashes on her arms and torso, nor the bloody cuts on her cheeks.

She kept on her downward spiral, Queen Pike held in front.

As T.I.T.A.N. came closer, she let out the first battle cry she had uttered in sixty million years.

Then the lance pierced it's head.

* * *

There was the sound of metal being torn in two, and not a moment after the two mechs made contact, a crater formed right beneath the behemoth as the smaller tore right through the larger, landing beneath it.

There was a silence, and the robot seemed to lag comically, as if confused.

Then it swelled, and it blew up.

* * *

"Sir… T.I.T.A.N has been destroyed."

"So it would seem."

The two men watched the screen closely, watching what the probe was broadcasting.

Debris and ash blocked the view of the crater, but it wasn't long before it cleared.

* * *

And there Strelitzia stood, battered and near broken, but it stood, lance raised in defiant victory.

* * *

The two men in the observation room watched the mecha as the thrusters kicked to life, weakly sparking at first, but the growing stable. The FranXX lifted itself off the ground, and, wasting no time, immediately shot past the coast towards a horizon that would lead to Old North America. The drone caught the faint sound of a sonic boom.

The younger man's shoulders slumped slightly as the target disappeared from the drone's camera. "Target lost."

"I can see that quite clearly," the superior sighed, running his hand through his graying hair. "God-bloody-dammit. The council's gonna have a field day with this." He whipped out a cigar. "On the bright side…" The man glared at the screen displaying only a debris filled coast and a horizon not breached in a hundred years. "We might finally get permission for an expedition."

"You mean…" The younger man looked at his superior with amazement.

The man nodded. "It's time to see what APE has been doing all this time."

* * *

**A/N: When thinking of T.I.T.A.N, think of the first thing Izuku Midoriya brought down with One For All.**

**So, as I said up top, this will most likely be the last chapter for Summer, as I have other things that'll take up time. Anyways, perhaps it'll give this story time to gain some more followers. My apologies in advance.**

**Speaking of such, I would appreciate reviews; it's interesting to hear your thoughts and your comments, as well as your theories on how this will turn out. It also helps me plan my story to maximize your reading experience.**

**Ah, and don't forget about spelling errors/mistakes in general.**

**Anyways, have a good Summer.**

**-Order of Alignment**


	11. Chapter 11

The princess cared not where they flew, so long as it was away from the machine that had nearly killed them, so she paid no heed to where she directed the mech in her stupor. So, when the FranXX suddenly lost power and fell from the sky, she was surprised that the crash was softened by snow.

Obviously, she had flown too far north.

She made no effort to force the FranXX to rise, disconnecting from the controls and letting it revert to its Stampede Mode, then she turned to her to companions.

She grimaced as she eyed their injuries, quietly noting that their blood was blue, and both had reverted to their 'Oni' forms (as she had heard them once refer to their transformation). _Perhaps this time the transformation will be permanent. Hopefully._

Her eyes once again began roaming their injuries, noting that the cuts with dried blood would be open to infection. Not wishing to lose them to sickness (what a way to die, she shuddered at the thought), she did what any Klaxo Sapien would consider a normal way to deal with wounds.

Pulling Hiro close to her, she began to lick his wounds, wiping away all the dried blood, allowing his body's healing properties to work without risk. _One down…_ She repeated the process with Zero Two, and then herself, and soon all concerned parties were clean of any blood.

Not counting the stains on their clothing- nothing she could do about that.

The princess, now having dealt with her companions' injuries, began to asses the situation. She knew that she had come too far north, but that could easily be rectified with a few days travel. Then she could help her wards reunite with their human family. Then she would-

…

...

...

What _would _she do?

She had been so caught up in the events of the past few weeks that she had forgotten that she had been unwillingly thrust from her death in to the world of the living, and she had been so taken with the two former-hybrids that she had neglected to think ahead. After she got them back to their home, what purpose did she have left? APE was dismantled, VIRM defeated, her simmering anger cooled.

(The sadness, of course, remained).

All at once, the depression which recent events had kept at bay since her resurrection, the one constant in her life since _that _day over sixty million years ago, fell upon her with a cruel vengeance, and the princess remembered once again why she gave up so easily given up in her last battle with the invaders.

Whats the point of fighting- of _living,_ when everything worth living for and everything she fought for was dead?

* * *

Hachi had been going over the footage Delphinium had recorded when his datapad received an alert.

__FRANXX SIGNAL DETECTED_

..._What?_

He was confused, and understandably so. The only FranXXs that had been activated in recent times were Delphinium and the Nine Model Alpha insisted in training in.

Tapping away at the datapad, he gave the command to isolate the signal, and locate it's position.

__SEARCHING... ... ...INCONCLUSIVE RESULTS... ... ...OUT OF RANGE_

Ok, so that won't work.

Hachi again tapped the datapad, this time making the 'pad search for the codes of the parasites who piloted the FranXX. _It's highly unlikely, but it's entirely possible that two parasites had been left behind somewhere, and had survived this long. But surely the FranXX would have run out of fuel by now, or-_

__SEARCH CONCLUDED_

__PILOT DESIGNATIONS: CODES 002, 016_

_..._

_...Sweet mother of God._

Quickly, Hachi moved to the main terminal, quickly erasing any other trace that those messages existed. _I need to investigate this. No point in giving them false hope. If this truly_ **_is _**_Strelitzia…_

Did that mean it's pilots were alive as well?

Hachi knew he could not, _would not, _rest until he had an answer.

* * *

"Hey, look at that," Goro grinned. The others followed his gaze to the two bickering partners, who for once had decided to sit by themselves in the cafeteria. However, something was off.

They were arguing, but not for any good reason. Not that that there usually was...

But that smug look on Futoshi's face…

"Neh, Futoshi," Ikuno spoke, "You know what''s going on between the two of them? They seem…" Ikuno though for a moment for the right word, allowing Naomi to come to her rescue.

"They seem closer."

Futoshi's grin only got wider. "Haven't you guys heard? They're an item now."

The girls simply stared at him in disbelief, while the boys had a different reaction.

Mitsuru spoke tentatively, and if the girls didn't know any better, they'd say there was fear in his eyes. "Futoshi, you don't still plan to-"

"Ah-ah-_ah_! You guys made your bet! You lost, so you know what you have to do." Futoshi's grin took on a malicious tone. "Go on," he prompted.

Goro and Mitsuru merely looked at one another in morose resignation and left.

"...What was that about?" Ichigo asked the baker.

"Forget about that, there was a betting pool?" Naomi pouted. "You could've told me."

Futoshi simply shook his head, and opened his mouth to respond, but he caught sight of something behind them, and clasped a hand over his mouth and keeled over with suppressed laughter.

"Shut it, Futoshi."

The girls turned around and were greeted to the sight of both Mitsuru and Goro wearing frilly, pre-APE outfits for the opposite gender.

Ikuno, being the only one who was able to suppress her laughter spoke for all of them. "Are those maid outfits?"

"Unfortunately," Mitsuru growled, "this was the cost of us losing the bet."

"Where'd you even find time to make these, Futoshi?" Goro asked, glaring at the plumper teen who had calmed down.

"A lot of people owed me favors," he answered cryptically. The rest of the group eyed him with humor and a tad bit of wariness. What was he, the new Master of Whispers?

"..."

"..."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Wait, how large was this betting pool?"

…

...

...

The entire time this was taking place, the original subjects of the topic just watch the chaos ensue, both with smirks on their faces.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Zorome grinned. In truth, he hadn't, but he wasn't going to let his new significant other know that. Let her bask in the omnipotence of the Great Zorome-

"Is that so? I wasn't aware you were that patient," Miku smirked back

"Heh, yeah, I- HEY!"

* * *

**A/N: I think I might start adding short summaries to future chapters, who knows?**


	12. Chapter 12

_Who's memories are these?_

_They're not mine._

_But... they are?_

_Someone close to me…_

_Betrayed me?_

_Darling wouldn't do that._

_But someone did...?_

* * *

Zero Two shivered as she woke from her pain induced unconsciousness.

_Why's it so cold? _She shivered again and wrapped her arms around Hiro, who had still not woken, but was sleeping fitfully.

He stilled as soon as Zero Two encompassed him, and she smiled.

"You're awake."

Zero Two jolted slightly as the unexpected voice (with a strange accent, how had she not noticed that before?) rang through the cockpit, and she shifted her attention away from her Darling to the pistil terminal, where Hime had connected herself.

The princess stared at her. "Do you… feel well?" she asked.

"You sound funny." Zero Two stated bluntly. How was she only figuring this out now?

"You seem fine. That is… good." She started to turn away from her sister, but not before the girl saw the total exhaustion etched onto the princess' face, and the bags underneath her eyes.

"Neh, when was the last time you slept? You look like you're dying inside."

"Does death count? And that's because I am."

Zero Two raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised. _Was that a joke? Wait,-_

"You're saying you haven't even napped since coming back?"

The princess scoffed. "Someone had to pilot while you two copulated."

Zero Two huffed, then turned indignantly at pointed at the princess.

"We did _not_!" she squeaked.

It was Hime's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Truly? Why not?"

Zero Two's face flushed a deeper shade of red. "Darling…

He wants our first time to be special."

The princess said nothing, and the silence persisted for several moments, and Zero Two snapped out of her thoughts. "Hey, don't change the subject! You need to sleep!"

"No, I do not."

"You're tired! Look at you!" And, indeed, the Klaxosaur Princess looked worse for wear, bags underneath her drooping eyes, disheveled hair, bruises and burns from the previous fight…

Honestly, it was a testament to her will (or stubbornness) that she was still conscious.

"Move over. I'll pilot."

"I do not need-"

Zero Two placed a finger against Hime's lips, and spoke before the indignant looking princess could retaliate.

"Just… sleep, okay? Darling wouldn't like it if I let you stay up."

The princess stared at her, then, with a sigh, she disengaged herself from the pistil terminal.

"Fine, you get you're wish. Now, if you would be so kind as to catch me..."

And with those parting words, the princess closed her eyes and promptly collapsed on the spot, coming short of crumpling on the unforgiving metal of the cockpit, if it wasn't for her clone.

Zero Two blinked. _She just collapsed? How tired is she?_

She shrugged, then carried Hime over to her Darling and placed the princess in her former spot.

"There. You can warm each other up."

She turned away from the blue Klaxo Sapiens and took her place on the pistil terminal. Only then did she notice they were in a snowy forest.

"Where exactly are we?"

* * *

Nine-Alpha had been sparring with a sandbag when Hachi approached him unexpectedly.

"Nine-Alpha. I have a task- a _request_, for you and the Nines, if you wish.

The former elite turned his gaze from his punching bag and eyed the older human curiously. "Really? Well, at this point, anything will do."

Hachi nodded, and gave Nine-Alpha a datapad with coordinates on them. He looked at them, then shot Hachi with a look asking for an explanation.

"You are to go to this location and report what you see. The coordinates may change, but using the datapad you should be able to keep track of the target."

"What _is_ the target?" Nine-Alpha asked.

"You'll know it when you see it. Do you accept my request?"

Nine-Alpha thought it over momentarily, then shrugged. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Plus, an assignment just might help get his fellow clones out of their funk.

"Sure, why not? We have nothing else to do, after all. I'll go get the others."

* * *

**A/N: I live!**


	13. Chapter 13

"How close do you think it'll take to finish setting things up for the festival?"

Ichigo groaned. This was the ninth time someone had asked her about that in the last _hour_. Just let her work, darn it! "Soon. Hopefully in the week." The other random parasite nodded and thankfully left her to finish her work, and Ichigo sighed.

She honestly kind of missed piloting a FranXX at times like these…

_You know what?_ She stood up. _I need to relax. Where the hell is Goro?_

* * *

"Uncle Goro, why is your hair funny?"

The mentioned young adult sputtered. "It is not!"

Ai pouted. "Papa, tell uncle his hair is funny!"

"Just accept the truth, Goro. Your hair is funny."

"Wha- Mitsuru!"

"What am I supposed to do, say it's not? She's my daughter. Therefore, she's always right." He flipped a page in the book he was reading. "When you and Ichigo finally decide to have kids-"

Goro's choking on air cut him off.

* * *

"ZERO TWO!"

The unexpected yell cause Zero Two to jolt, in turn causing Strelitzia to stumble. She twirled her mech's head around frantically, searching for the source of a possible threat before realizing it was just her Darling, who had just awoken. She relaxed, reigning her FranXX to a stop, disconnecting herself from the Pistil terminal, only to be immediately pulled into a very warm hug, her head coming to rest on his chest.

Not the worst way to disconnect from a FranXX, if she was being honest.

_He smells so nice._

"Zero Two! You're okay!" her Darling exclaimed happily. She looked up, and saw her Darling grinning as though he had found something of extreme importance.

(He had.)

Zero Two purred in response, deepening their embrace. "Of course I am, Darling! I always am, if I'm with you." She curled up on his lap, and there they lay for a few moments in comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company. After this lull, Hiro finally broke the silence.

"Uh… What happened, exactly? Last I remember, we were… fighting a giant robot?" Hiro scratched an itch behind his head, as if searching for a more plausible answer.

Zero Two confirmed his mumbles with a nod. "Yeah. We got hit, fell unconscious. Then Hime," and here she pointed at the princess, slumbering in the corner, "Beat up the thing, I guess. And then she brought us here."

Hiro glanced at the sleeping princess, who at this point had wrapped her tentacles around her like a black, blue striped cocoon. "She's tired."

"Yeah."

"Not just from this week, I think," Hiro corrected his wording. "I don't think she's rested in a long time."

Zero Two glanced at the princess again, and wrapped herself around her Darling a bit more tightly. She had come to the realization that she was not envious or angry at the princess anymore. From what memories she had glimpsed, she had been through much more than either Wings. What's worse was that the princess no longer had her Wing, if she ever had one.

It was a while before Strelitza started moving again.

* * *

"So, who wants to come? I can only take one of you, so…"

Alpha leaned against the door post, waiting for a response from his pseudo-family. He had explained what little Hachi had told him of his target, and was now waiting for someone to volunteer themselves.

"I… think I'll stay here," Delta replied, so Alpha immediately ruled out Epsilon from joining. "Gamma? Beta?"

The two mentioned elites thought for a moment, then shook their heads. "I'm good, Alpha." Beta motioned to Gamma, and he nodded. "Yeah, same here."

Alpha shrugged, then turned to the triplets. There was silence for a moment as the trio stared at the elite leader, the Zeta stood from her seat and nodded. Alpha nodded back, satisfied.

_Just like old times, huh. _"Come on. Hachi said we should leave as soon as possible." The two left the Nines' room and strode towards the change rooms" The target appears to be moving towards us, so that's in our favor," Alpha explained. "We should be able to catch up with it within… what, a day? I suppose it depends on how fast we fly."

"..."

The two separated as they went into their respective gender's changerooms, got suited up, and met up again in the FranXX holding area. Hachi, who had been waiting for them, handed Nine-Alpha the datapad, wished them good luck, and left them to their own devices. Nine-Alpha looked at his partner and gestured towards the 9 Model. Zeta nodded, and together they strode towards their FranXX.

Half a dozen minutes later they were flying north.

* * *

"Isn't this nice? We don't meet up as often as before, do we, Ikuno?" Kokoro smiled at the white-haired girl, and she smiled back. "I suppose that is true, with you teaching your classes and me doing my research."

"Mm. It's only gotten more hectic lately with the preparations for the festival. Also, did you know that Alpha and Zeta left?"

Ikuno raised an eyebrow. "Really? Where to?"

"Yes," Kokoro nodded. "Something for Hachi, if what Delta says is correct." Here Ikuno raised her eyebrows again, this time in surprise. "You've been talking to the Nines?"

"Is that so surprising? They're interesting people to talk to. Besides, I'm trying to convince them to come to one of my classes one day."

Ikuno stared at her for a moment be snickering. "I would pay to see that. Hey, where's Ai?"

"Oh, Mitsuru has her. He wanted to give me a break, which is greatly appreciated."

"Having a husband must be nice."

"Yeah…" Kokoro smiled, focusing on nothing in particular. "Mitsuru's great." Then she turned to face Ikuno again.

"So, have you and Naomi done _it _yet?"

Ikuno sputtered.

* * *

At last, they had past the mountain range that marked the border between the snowy north and the rest of the continent, and when the crossed, the two Wings thought they would see the same old dusty plains.

They saw grass.

Hiro gasped. "It's beautiful…"

And indeed it was. In their absence, the Earth had come a long way in it's healing process. Streams ran through the valleys and tress grew on the hills. They even managed to spot a deer, something the two had only read about. Zero Two stared with rapt attention, watching the renewed land with stars in her eyes. "The princess would like this, right, Darling?"

"I think she'd love it."

Re-energized by their discovery, the two Parasites urged Strelitzia to fly faster, pushing the limits of their speed. They grinned, and together they thought as one.

_Faster!_

_Faster!_

_We're nearly home!_

* * *

**A/N: They're nearly home!**

**Also, if you weren't aware, there is an official Darling in the FranXX manga that is currently ongoing. Check it out!**


	14. Chapter 14

The Klaxosaurs stirred from their nests, and rose.

The ships had returned from orbit, minus one, and they had been feared the worst. But now- they could sense her! It was faint, but she was still alive!

The princess was coming home.

* * *

They had no idea how long or how fast they had been flying when a *ping* alerted them to a message displayed on the H.U.D.

Hiro stared at the message, and Strelitzia's flight faltered ever-so-slightly. Zero Two, who couldn't see, mentally nudged the blue Klaxo Sapien. "Neh, Darling. What does it say?"

Darling hesitated, before answering. "There's a FranXX nearby, and it's coming towards us rather quickly."

Zero Two hummed. "What's a FranXX doing out here?" She felt her Darling shrug, and they angled the FranXX slightly to the left. "Let's go find out."

With their new goal in mind, Strelitzia flew faster. The faster they dealt with this, the sooner they could go home.

Unknown to them, they were effectively killing two birds with one stone.

…

…

…

Alpha and Zeta sat in silence as they waited for their quarry. They had detected the FranXX a few hours after they left, and were pleasantly surprised that it appeared to be coming towards them, saving them time. The two had landed the 9-Model in a clearing, deciding to wait for them instead of flying further north.

They didn't have to wait long.

Two hours after landing, Streltzia landed not five feet from them. The fucking _Iron Maiden_, Doctor Frank's pride and joy, the same FranXX that had blasted off into space with a massive world-destroying bioweapon, never to be seen again.

And now it was just standing standing there.

The two FranXX stared at each other in shocked silence, and their Stamens, who had established a com line, stared at each other as well.

Alpha, never being one to lose his cool, nonchalantly dialed for Hachi. When the immortal caretaker answered, Alpha remained quiet, waiting for the blue-haired man to begin.

Hachi, sensing the tension, quickly began to question the former elite.. "**Ah, Nine-Alpha. Were you successfull in your mission?**"

"_HACHI WHAT THE ACTUAL FU-_"

* * *

Nana watched in curiosity as Hachi fist-pumped victoriously, before focusing on… whatever he was doing. Walking up to him, she tapped him on the shoulder. "What's gotten you so… enthusiastic?" Wow, that was not a word she had ever expected to associate with her significant-other.

Hachi gave a serene smile, something that both soothed and creeped Nana out. "The festival the kids have been planning may not be necessary."

"Oh?" Nana's eyebrows quirked upwards. "What does that mean? Care to enlighten me?"

Hachi seemed to ponder over it for a moment, before coming to a decision. "I'll keep to myself for now. Hopefully, it will be a pleasant surprise. You trust me, right?

"Nana nodded rubbing his shoulders. "Of course I do." She turned to leave, giving Hachi a peck on the cheek. "I'll leave you to your scheming."

* * *

_While she slumbered, she dreamt._

_She dreamt of a time long past,of people long dead. She dreamt of her mother, her life smothered before her own eyes. She thought of her siblings, slaughtered in a convoy ambush. She thought her of father, whose orders, alongside the machinations of her dead mother were the only thing that saved her from dying with the rest of them._

_She dreamt of her Darling, name lost to time, buried beneath layers of grief and anguish and hatred._

_She wants to remember his name._

_So she dives headfirst into memories she'd spent eons suppressing, of family, friends, enemies. Of the battles she'd fought, of the losses that continued to mount. The happy memories were few-and-far between, and most of them included **him**, which only served to frustrate her more._

_Why couldn't she remember?_

_Had she wanted to forget that badly?_

_So she kept searching, deeper and deeper until the memories darkened, hidden from her. Yet, she kept searching, and her perseverance was rewarded. Although it was a name, it was not the name she was seeking._

_It was hers._

_…_

_…_

_…_

It was Hime who went to sleep, yet it was Nawabari who woke up.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Alpha pinched the bridge of his nose. "You died."

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, pretty sure we did."

"You came back, in space. With Strelitzia."

"Uh-huh."

"You flew back here, ended up across the sea where you fought a giant robot, somehow manage to cross said sea in record time-"

"Why do we need to do this if you already memorized what we told you?" Zero two snorted.

"-and to top it all off, you never ran out of fuel?!"

"...huh. Never thought of that," the red Klax pondered. Zeta nudged Alpha before wandering away from the group, and Alpha, recalling something, held up a finger to add one more thing.

"Ah, that's right. For whatever reason, you are both blue and red, respectively. And no longer human. How does that even happen?"

The two pilots of Strelitzia looked at each other, then shrugged in unison. Alpha groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I am going to kill Hachi when we see him next."

Suddenly noticing a lack of grey hair, Alpha swiveled to look at his surroundings.

"Where did Zeta go?"

* * *

She treaded carefully as she entered the deactivated FranXX. She had no idea what had possessed her to explore the dimmed cockpit, only that she felt a _pull _of sorts, the same she held with her _selfsistersclones_. It made her curious; no one outside of her look-alikes had made her feel the pull, yet this one felt… stronger. Older.

Primordial.

It was in this state of curiosity that she found the black-and-blue cocoon, lying in the far corner of the cockpit. Emboldened by it's apparent lack of life, she inched closer, and closer still.

Then, with no warning whatsoever, it unfurled.

Strangely enough, she felt to fear or anger when the horned blue girl untangled herself from the tentacle-like appendages, only the bond.

The girl shook herself and stood up, eyes groggily falling on the clone, then they abruptly sharpened..

The silence was nearly unbearable, they two females staring at each other, both refusing to turn their backs from a possible hostile.

The cold war ended when Hiro poked his head in the cockpit and let out a distressed sigh, muttering, "First Zero Two and Alpha, now you and her." Then, louder; "Don't kill her Hime."

"...I wasn't planning to."

The three stood there in silence, before Hiro finally beckoned them outside.

"Also, Hiro."

The mentioned blue Klax stopped, allowing Zeta to move ahead to their respective partners (who were bickering, of course.) He looked at the now-conscious princess. "Yeah, Hime?"

"My name isn't Hime."

Hiro blinked. "...do you not like the name?"

"No, no, it's a nice name. But… I no longer need it.

My name is Nawabari."

* * *

**A/N: Work, Exams, procrastination, Writers Block. Also, I was busy enjoying other stories on this site.**

**In other news, the Manga's ending was a letdown for me, but meh. That_ is_ why I write this, anyways.**

**Cyao.**


	15. Chapter 15

The former elite and the princess stared at each other in silence, Hiro standing in between them acting as a barrier. For good reason, at any rate, seeing as the first thing Nawabari had done when she heard his voice was attempt to impale him with a tentacle.

Only Hiro's quick thinking had stopped the impromptu meeting from turning into a bloodbath.

"Hime- _Nawabari_," Hiro corrected, and Zero Two gave him a confused look. "You _promised_ to not kill anyone."

"That was _before_ I discovered that the **insects** we're meeting are responsible for the death of hundreds of our brethren."

"In my defense-" Nine Alpha started, only to be cut off as Nawabari hissed at him. He glared back as he continued. "_In my defense_, I was following orders. How was I supposed to know that Papa was a genocidal alien hellbent on assimilating all forms of intelligent life?"

"Perhaps when he started mass-engineering children to die for him." the Princess shot back, and Hiro groaned."Can't you guys put the past behind you?"

"Or wait till we get home?" Zero Two snapped, and to her surprise, Nawabari had the decency to look guilty.

Nine Alpha blinked. "Ah, yes. The crux of our mission. We should probably depart now, Hachi will be expecting us." He turned towards his FranXX, Zeta trailing behind. Zero Two and Hiro turned to do the same, only to realize that someone had not moved to join them.

"...Princess?"

The Klaxo Sapien matriarch was currently staring in awe the snail that had slid it's way between her toes. She looked back up at them, and gave them a small, rare smile. "You two go. I can walk from here.

It's been eons since I felt living grass between my feet."

Then she turned to leave.

Zero Two sighed. "W-Wait."

The princess stopped as Zero Two called out to her. She turned, and, to her surprise, found the two parasites seemed _sad _to see her go. _Do they value my companionship that much?_

"...Come visit, alright? We're… family now, I guess. There's no need to be lonely anymore."

A family.

How long had it been since she had that?

"...I'll see you two in a week."

She turned to leave again, only to be ambushed from behind in a hug from the two of them. She stiffened for a moment before relaxing, treasuring the warmth and tranquility it brought her. Then it was gone, and she was bidding them goodbye. She stood in the clearing for a while, watching the two FranXXs take off towards the Bird's Nest, and only then did she start her trek towards the Gran Crevasse.

She took the time to enjoy the earth beneath her feet.

* * *

The two FranXXs maintained radio contact as they flew towards their home, and Hiro pestered the two elites for every detail of their friends. Both he and Zero Two were gladdened by what they heard, especially about Ai. They laughed at the antics of Zorome and Miku, grinned at the romance between Ikuno and Naomi, and smiled as they gorged themselves on happy memories, on ones made before and ones soon to be made.

It wasn't long before the Bird's Nest crested the horizon, and Strelitzia grinned. With renewed joy, the FranXX shot forward, outpacing the 9 Model, and flew into the sky.

Nine Alpha watched them go as he tutted to himself. "Well… She always did like to make an entrance." Then, to them; "How much time do you guys need?"

The two stamens of the Iron Maiden thought on it for a moment. "**Tell them to meet us on that cliff, as soon as you land. Don't tell them who told you, though. Zero Two wants to make an entrance.**"

"Yes, I imagined that much."

"**Wha- what's _that _supposed to mean, Fodder?**" Zero Two growled. The 9 Model merely gave a semi-mocking salute before ending radio contact and descending to the closest landing platform.

Their landing was met with little fanfare; the Nines had come out to greet them, as did Kokoro, Ikuno, and Naomi, to his surprise. _Ah, well, saves me the trouble of having to look for them, _the elite thought to himself.

Alpha turned to acquaint himself with his squad-mates while Zeta joined up with her sisters. The blonde elite found, to his curiosity, that he somewhat disliked watching Zeta leave, but shrugged it off, before turning his attention back to the questions being shot his way. In absolutely no mood to entertain them, he sighed. "Just… gather the rest of your squad-mates and head to The Jian's Roost. All the answers will be there." With that, he and the rest of the Nines went back inside. Kokoro, Ikuno, and Naomi, looked at each other, shrugged, then went to get the others.

* * *

Ichigo was putting the finishing touches on the festival she had deemed the _Festival of Wings_ when Hachi burst into her office with a shine in his eyes she had never seen before. "Hachi, wha-"

"There is no time to explain! You must come with me immediately; it is a situation of _utmost_ importance!" He was grinning, something that caught her off guard. Before she had chance to interrogate the immortal, he was gone, leaving Ichigo to scramble after him. Her confusion only mounted as she encountered the other members of Squad 13 following Hachi. Nana was waiting at the end of the hallway with Ikuno, Naomi, Kokoro, Mitsuru, and Ai. When they got close enough, Hachi nodded to Nana, and they opened the door to that led to the bride over the moat-lake in the direction of The Jian's Roost.

Goro waited for her to catch up before continuing their pursuit of their former caretaker. "Any idea why Hachi's being so… _not-Hachi_?"

Ichigo shook her head. "He barged into my office and told me there was something I needed to see. I guess it's by the tree. They rounded the bottom of the cliff where they could see the massive sakura tree even from the bottom. Catching up with their fellow squad-mates, the shared an apprehensive look, but began to follow Hachi and Nana up the hill.

They were halfway up when they saw it.

Them.

* * *

Strelitzia hovered just above a cloud that was perfectly positioned below their envisioned landing spot. The FranXX gazed fondly at the land below, it's pilots reminiscing about memoirs from different times, and early conjuring new ones.

Inside, Zero Two turned to look at her Darling, who gazed back with a determined yet elated expression.

Zero Two beamed. "You ready, Darling?"

Hiro took a breath, the grinned. "Ready. Let's do it, Zero Two!"

With that, they began their final descent.

* * *

...

...

...

_The Jian came down from the heavens, crowned with a halo of sunlight, held aloft by wings crafted of the very clouds the Iron Maiden had parted in it's descent, looking, for all intensive purposes, like an Bird of Paradise returning to its nest. It was as if the Earth itself triumphantly heralded their return._

...

...

...

(_Who is to say it did not?_)

...

...

...

* * *

They stared, standing stock-still as the Jian came to rest at the foot of the very tree that had sprouted from Zero Two's statue years ago. Only then did they resume moving, everyone breaking out into a sprint uphill, eager to confirm what _surely _could not be real.

They were happily disappointed.

Sitting on the edge of the cliff, two Klaxo Sapiens turned their heads to look at the new arrivals, who stared back in shock. Ichigo took a step forward, not quite believing her eyes. "...H-Hiro? ...Zero Two?"

The two Wings grinned.

_"We're home."_

* * *

...

...

...

_**Arc One: End**_

* * *

**A/N: Wow. I mean, ho-_ly_. I published this more than a year ago, and despite what it seems, I never had an end-goal in sight when I started. I do _now,_ but jeez it's been a ride.**

**(Probably should've updated more frequently. I mean, I had a month of quarantine to do this!)**

**Also, thank you for...**

**"_Favs: _****126****_ \- Follows: _****157****_"_**

**_..._**

**Huh. Well, this is now my most Favorited written piece of work. Which means a lot to me, so thank you.**

**Well, on to the next arc. See you there.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: *inhales***

**I'M BACK, BITCCCHHHEEESSSSSSSS**

**Bloody hell, writer's block is truly a menace.**

* * *

The combined tackle-hug of Squad 13 nearly threw them off the cliff.

Not to say the hugs weren't welcome; it was nice to know that they had actually been missed by their comrades/squadmates/friends.

After maneuvering themselves and their friends away from the cliff so that they wouldn't fall (after all they've been through, lived through, fought through, that would be a stupid way to die,) they finally managed to calm everyone down enough to speak. Ichigo had been babbling happily almost as soon as she had embraced them, Zorome and Miku were pretending not to cry, Goro had lost all sense of voice, Futoshi was grinning, Naomi was spinning an elated Ikuno in her arms, and both Kokoro and Mitsuru, standing a little ways separate from the rejoicing reunion, were trying to explain who the red and blue strangers were to their child-

Zero Two's thought process ground to a halt.

_Child?_

Squeezing Darling's hand to let him know she was moving, she shuffled her way out of the impromptu hug and cautiously made her way over to the married couple. She moved slowly, not wanting to frighten them or the child they held in their arms. As she approached, they looked to her with joyful smiles, and Zero Two's heart swelled a bit.

Even though they had long forgiven her for her sins, she had been afraid of their reactions upon their return. It was nice to know that they cared for her in some capacity. Shoving those thoughts away, she raised a hand in greeting. "It's been a while, you two."

Kokoro nodded, still beaming. "I suppose it has, Zero Two. How are you?"

The red Klaxo Sapien would have responded had Ai, who had been staring curiously at her for a while, spoke up. "Are you an angel? Since you came out of the sky and all..."

Zero Two blinked.

_That's new._

She had been called monster, demon, enemy, Partner Killer, Stamen Killer, the works, but 'angel' was something she had never thought she would be associated with.

"N-no, I'm not an angel."

Ai pouted, and Zero Two hurriedly backtracked. "I mean- Yes! I'm an angel!"

Mitsuru snickered at the flustered Klaxo Sapien. "I'm surprised, Zero Two. I've never seen you back down from anyone besides Hiro, and that's only because you can't refuse him, I think." He nodded at her, handing Ai over to Kokoro and heading over to Hiro, who was busy trying to rapidly answer the questions being shot at him. "Welcome back, Zero Two."

Zero Two and Kokoro watched him go before turning back to each other, and they were silent for a moment, before Zero Two shifted slightly. "So… when was Ai born? She looks kinda like you, is that how all children are..?"

Kokoro blinked. "How did you know Ai's name? We haven't told you yet."

"Oh, we heard it when we were in space."

"Eh?!"

* * *

After living with only Zero Two, then Hime- Nawabari for so, Hiro had nearly forgotten what it was like to be around Squad 13, and was only far too happy to rediscover it. Despite having fled from most social gatherings for the later half of his life since his memory wipe and subsequent removal from Zero Two's life (if anyone tried to pull that shit on him or his other half _ever_ again he would rend them limb from limb) he felt at home amongst his squadmates, joking and laughing and talking and crying the same as the rest of them.

It was only after the euphoria of their return wore off (the sun was setting, and _stars above_ was it beautiful, it had been so long since he had seen a sunset) that both he and Zero two sat down, backs against the massive sakura tree, and began to answer their questions. Squad 13, Nana, and Hachi listened with rapt attention as the two Klaxo Sapiens spoke in lengthy detail of their journey to VIRM's homeworld, the battle they had thought, and Hiro's near-disaster.

"I would have died if you guys hadn't done what you did," Hiro gazed at them solemnly. At their surprised looks, he nodded. "Yeah, we both heard you. I don't know what you did, or how… but thank you."

Bringing her head to rest on her Darling's, Zero Two smiled at them other former-parasites. "Thanks to you, my Darling is still alive. That means the world to me."

After that emotion-filled moment, the two carried on, describing Strelitzia's last charge into the corrupt core of VIRM's homeworld, ending the plague that had killed countless worlds and avenging the Klaxo Sapiens of which they now hailed descent.

"What happened next?! How'd you guys survive?!" Goro leaned forward, eagerly awaiting their answer, as did everyone else.

"...We didn't."

They _had _died, Hiro and Zero Two explained, or at least they should have. They had been embracing each other in the void between the to realms of existence, waiting for death's call to claim them.

"Then…"

Squad 13's joyous surprise turned into shock when they finally described their resurrection and their journey home. "If it weren't for the princess, I doubt we'd be here right now."

There was a deafening silence as the Klaxos finished their lengthy tale and relaxed against each other, content to watch their friends mull over the information presented to them. "So _that's_ why the Klaxosaurs have been acting weird, huh..? They sensed the princess- what's her name? Nawabari? And they got worried when they couldn't anymore?"

Hiro shared a glance with his partner, then she shrugged. "Maybe? We'll have to ask her when we see her again." Then she grinned mischievously. "Hope you don't mind that we invited her over."

Silence.

Then Ichigo, being defacto leader and all, shot to her feat.

"You _WHAT?!_"

* * *

As soon as she judged them a good distance away as to not see her with the enhanced vision Strelitizia gave them, Nawabari let the soft smile fall off her face. She turned back to watch them go again, then continued onward, continued home.

At least, what was left of it.

The grass felt cold.

It took about two days for her to finally reach the former housing place of Her Child, and the Klaxosaurs, loyal as they were, had arrayed themselves outside the ruined walls and roared in triumph as she came into view of the Crevasse, as if hailing a triumphant conqueror retuning home from avenging her people.

She was no avenger, and her people were dead.

Allowing most of her Klaxosaurs to disperse back to their nests upon reaching inner sanctums of the Gran Crevasse (many had made homes elsewhere, and had eggs to return to), she let out a low, shrill rumble from her throat, calling to her Klaxosaurs again, specifically the ones who had survived not only the last great battle of the Crevasse, but the ones who had survived _all _the battles, the veterans of the old war.

Twelve Klaxosaurs presented themselves to her.

Twelve.

A hundred years ago, the veterans could have counted for an tenth of her forces, and they had been the ones overseeing the war against the major human nations whilst she oversaw the restarted construction of the Child.

Hundreds, if not thousands of veteran Klaxosaurs in her service, and she had emerged the war against the humans with only _twelve_.

_Tell me,_ a dark voice whispered from the far corners of her mind, _Was it worth it?_

Ignoring the dark thought for a moment, she turned to the oldest among the remaining Lehta-Klaxos, who bowed their head. "**Princess. Welcome home."**

The princess nodded back, and spoke to them in her true tongue. "**What had happened during my absence?" **she paused for a moment, before asking another question; "**Was anything salvaged? Anything at all? And what of the Twins?"**

The Lehta-Klaxosaur was silent for a moment, and the other veterans exchanged wearied, tired looks with each other, and Nawabari's heart ached. Finally, the Klaxosaur, who had named themselves Nropu some time ago, if she recalled correctly, answered.

"**The humans have expanded their farming fields. They work on switching from… the power of our brethren's sacrifices to other alternatives." **Nropu hesitated before answering Nawabari's last questions.

"**We set the non-Lehtas to search for anything of value that could be retrieved or repaired.**

**...There was nothing."**

Something already shattered broke inside her.

The Gran Crevasse had been used as more than just a construction and holding site of Her Child, but the storage space of _all _the surviving works and documents and histories of her people, the only things that she had managed to scrounge up in the rubble of the old world after VIRM's defeat.

Gone.

Names, stories, all that was left of her culture, her _people_, _**gone**_.

In a trembling voice unbecoming and unlike her, she repeated her last question. "**And of the Twins?"**

The Twins, as she had taken to calling them, had been her companions for the longest time, her guards who had sworn to the Apex to protect her, and they had. They had been beside her for almost every battle in her life, and were the last true remaining friends she had from the old world.

Nropu said nothing, merely lowering their head, and another Lehta-Klaxo stood forward and answered.

"**It is through they that your clone was able to liberate Her Child. They are dead."**

There was a moment where Nawabari just stood there, amongst the rubble of her last stronghold, silent, then she dismissed the twelve, and they went their own separate ways, shooting the princess sorrowful glances as they left.

Only once she could not here the thundering of their feet and treads upon the ground did she allowed herself to let out an anguished cry and smash the wall next to her, all the while trying, and failing, to ignore the saltwater streaming from her eyes.

The dark voice spoke to her again. _Was it worth it?_

This time, it spoke in her lover's voice, the one who's name she could not recall, and what was left of her resolve in her cause broke.

She answered.

_...No._

* * *

**A/N: As much as I love Nawabari, it's going to get worse for her before it gets better. It is what it is.**


End file.
